A Mage's Twilight

Summary:
Alma Stewart and Nara Paterson are no ordinary sixteen-year-old girls. They've got a secret, one they have to guard with their lives. They move from their home in Australia to Forks, to see what life in America is like. They attend the local high school in their junior year, the equivalent of their school year in Australia, and notice the Cullens aren't exactly...normal. Bella's still there, and - just a warning - Nara and Alma share a very close, serious romantic relationship. Hence the teen rating.

Notes:

3. Accidents

To my surprise, Edward wasn’t at school the next day. The rest of the vampires were there, but he was nowhere to be seen. Bella looked deflated when she realised, and I couldn’t grasp why. The boy had been giving her the death-glare yesterday, and yet she was disappointed because he wasn’t there? It didn’t make sense! Nara noticed my frustration and shook her head at me slightly. She wouldn’t freeze the humans to we could speak to the vampires…she didn’t want to expose us to them. It made sense and I reluctantly allowed her to drag me to the table we sat at.

‘They won't hurt anyone, Allie,’ she thought to me as we sat. ‘And we'll be able to relax in Biology now, without Edward there,’ she added. I nodded slightly, and wondered how badly Bella would do in Gym.

She did….badly. There was no other way to put it. She did badly. Nara and I learnt quickly to defend her, as the others in the class learned just as quickly to not let her throw the ball. We were still doing dodge, and Nara and I took many dives for the ball, often catching it on the full, before it could hit Bella. Predictably, our team won.

The rest of the week passed quickly, without incident, and the weekend was just as non-threatening. We did practically nothing, but we got to know Bella a little better and we all got ahead on our homework. Nara and I planned a trip to La Push in a couple of weeks – coinciding with the trip Bella was supposed to take with the people we sat with at lunch – to go surfing. If it wasn’t too cold, that is. Sometimes it got too cold here, even for us. We were fine with the temperatures in the mid-thirties – in Fahrenheit – but anything lower than about 34 was too cold for us. Hopefully, though, the trip would be possible. I was really looking forward to catching some waves.

On Monday, we went through the day as usual, apart from when it snowed. I'd never seen snow before, but Bella didn’t like it. She kept a binder in her hands so she could defend herself if need be, but my glares stopped anyone from lobbing a snowball her way. When we got to lunch, Nara froze when Bella did, and I followed both of their gazes to the figures we could see across the cafeteria. The Cullens were there…all of them. The three boys were laughing as the two girls leant away from Emmett, the biggest one, as he shook his wet hair at them. They seemed to be enjoying the snowy day…Bella only got a drink, and I could tell Nara was having flashbacks about the newly-returned Edward Cullen as we made our way to our usual table.

“You alright, Nara?” I asked softly as we sat.

“I'll be fine. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for our favourite vampire,” she breathed, so quietly only I could hear her. I nodded slightly as we sat, forcing a smile for the normal humans. We were on edge for the rest of lunch, completely ignoring the conversations going on around us.

When we got to Biology, I kept a close eye on Edward. He'd been gone for a week, and now he was back. Bella sat cautiously beside him, and I was just as surprised as she was when Edward decided to talk to her. We were doing lab-work today…I kept watching Edward and Bella the entire time, though. Their hands accidentally touched, and I could almost see the electricity between them. Ooh…sexual tension, much? From Bella’s blush, she had no idea what the electricity flowing between them was. Oh, the irony of fate.

When Biology finished Edward rushed out as he had last week, and Bella was sitting there in surprise exactly as she had last week. Nara and I made it to her side before Mike could today, and we led her to Gym without a word. We weren’t sure how she was reacting just yet to Edward Cullen’s change of mood. She was more zoned-out than usual during Gym, so Nara and I were racing around the basketball court protecting her as best we could. She tripped a few times, and almost took Nara with her once. I managed to catch both of them in time, though, so there were no catastrophically fatal falls. Bella muttered her thanks with bright red cheeks as I helped her right herself, and I just grinned before darting off towards the ball.

Our team won by fifteen points, which was to be expected. Nara and I were naturals at sport …like Bella was hopeless at any sport. On the way out of school, Bella stumbled over her own feet – as usual – and fell, taking me and Nara with her. I rolled back onto my feet instantly, but Nara wasn’t so lucky. She and Bella were tangled on the ground, both of them groaning in pain. I instantly started to help them to their feet, checking for scrapes and bruises, when two pale hands started to help me pull Nara and Bella to their feet. I looked up to see Alice Cullen there, smiling friendlily at me.

“Yeah, probably,” I agreed as she helped me get Nara and Bella to their feet. Bella was blushing and apologising to Nara and me, but Nara just wave off her apologies with a small smile. That's my Nara…

“Thanks,” Nara said quietly, smiling at Alice as she shifted her weight awkwardly. The vampire beamed.

“No problem. See you later!” she said cheerfully, before walking swiftly – to a human – away to the shiny silver Volvo that belonged to her ‘brother’ Edward.

That night was uneventful, as usual. Bella talked in her sleep, Nara was colder than usual and ended up stealing my blanket, but halfway through the night gave it up when she rolled over. I only got a few hours sleep, but I was fine in the morning. Bella was a irritated at the way the rain had frozen into ice overnight, and although she was worried I just knew she would be fine. She wouldn’t trip or slip. I was a little concerned about getting to school without sliding out of control, but I noticed the snow chains on her tires as we made our way down the driveway, even if Bella didn’t. So it was almost funny how slow she drove to school, determined not to lose control and driving slower than was necessary. At least she was aware of how accident prone she was.

We got to school without mishap, amazingly. When we got there Nara and I were at the hood of the truck – me rifling through my bag trying to find something for our first class – as Bella made her way to the back of the truck. It seemed she’d finally noticed the snow chains on her tires. As she stood there, with me and Nara waiting for her silently, the sound of grating metal reached my ears. I turned, as if in slow motion, to see a blue van sliding out of control across the ice-slick parking lot. It was heading straight for Bella, and both Nara and I were frozen in place. We could do nothing but stare in numb shock as the van headed for an almost certain collision with Bella. At the last second, I noticed Edward Cullen staring across the parking lot, horror written all over his face. Then he was running, and just as the van was going to collide with the back of Bella’s truck – and Bella herself – he grabbed her and they fell to the ground, out of the way.

All was silent when Edward had moved Bella out of the way and the van had stopped moving, until someone screamed. Then the chaos started, and Nara and I were still standing there in complete shock, staring at Edward and Bella as the former started to ask the latter anxious questions. I felt a little guilty for thinking so harshly of him…he cared for her, truly cared. Why else would he throw himself across the parking lot, risk exposing himself and his family, just to save a human girl with inhuman protectors less than three metres away? But then, he didn’t know what Nara and I were. Nara’s muscles unlocked before mine did, and she fell to her knees beside Bella and her vampire to ask if she was alright. I forced my muscles to unfreeze, and joined them on the ground. Bella was shaking her head slightly, trying to sit up, but Edward stopped her.

“Don’t try to move. I think you hit your head pretty hard.” I again felt guilty for what I had thought about him the last week or so. He was actually a pretty decent guy…vampire…whatever.

“Ow,” Bella said after a moment, her voice tinged with surprise. There was relief and humour in Edward’s voice when he responded.

“That's what I thought.” We were all silent for a moment, but then Bella frowned slightly and tried to sit up. This time Edward didn’t stop her.

“How did you get over here so fast?” He instantly pulled an innocent expression.

“I was standing right next to you, Bella,” he said calmly. “I was walking past and pulled you out of the way.”

“No,” Bella said stubbornly, shaking her head. I felt strangely smug. You go, girl! You tell him! “You were over there, by your car.”

“You hit your head, Bella. You're confused. I was just walking past and pulled you out of the way,” Edward insisted. Bella looked rather annoyed.

“There's nothing wrong with my head!” she snapped.

“Please, Bella.” His vice was low and pleading.

“Do you promise to explain everything to me later?” Bella asked, giving in a little. I glanced at Nara. She had it bad… Edward glared at her.

“Fine,” he snapped, and before I could stop myself my hand shot out to slap him across the face.

“Be nice,” I snapped back at him, angry. “I can take you any day. She just wants to know what happened!” Edward was staring at me, as shocked as Bella. His hand slowly crept to his cheek where I'd slapped him…probably hard enough to break the skin on a human boy.

“I…I felt that,” he muttered, as if to himself. I grinned bitterly.

“Good. It'll do you good to feel pain once in a while.”

“Explain to Bella later,” Nara said softly as the anxious and scared faces of teachers and students appeared in a gap created by the gym coach and the principal. “She deserves it.” Edward scowled at her, and I growled deep in my throat threateningly. No one looked at my Nara like that. Edward looked surprised and raised an eyebrow, but I just raised my own back.

“Fine,” he conceded with a sigh, glaring at me. I smiled sweetly.

“I'm glad we understand each other,” I said sweetly, before muttering under my breath. “Don’t treat Nara like that again.”